Method of making cannon.



D. a. CLEVELAND.

METHOD OF MAKING CANNON.

nmcgnou FILED MAR. 8. 1911.

1,258, 188. Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

A, FIE-L /////727 15 Y Z] /////l In! 1 'I I 1 Z/ /;;//t

2 i e I 5 I 14 17 E #1 U I H, X, ,l 4' AZ 1 15.61 M M DARWIN BoLEvELAND, or CLEVELAND, OHIO. I t

METHOD or MAKING cannon.

To all whom may concern: 7

Be it known thatv I, .DARWIN 13.0mm- LAND, arcitizen of the'UnitedStates, residing at Clevelanch in the county of Guyahoga and State ofOhio, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement I in Methods ofMaking Cannon, of which the following is full, clear, and exactdescription,freferencebeing had to the accompanying drawings. I V

The object of this invention is to provide for theicheap and rapidmanufacture of cannon. especially of comparatively small sizes. Myprocess produces the cannon body from a billet by a process of rollingpressing and cooling, which'forms the hollow body necessary, compactsthe wall, causes the strength to resist bursting strain, and

hardens the material by chilling.

My, process is hereinafter more fully described in connection with theaccompanyingdrawings, and the essential characteristics are summarizedin the'claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of a cannon produced by myinvention; Fig. 2 is a viewof the billet from which the cannon is made;Fig. 3 isa somewhat diagrammatic view representing the rolling of thisbillet by skew-placed rolls'to render the billet hollow and elongatedwith, a substantiallytapered exterior; Fig. I is a longitudinalsectionthrough the apparatusin which the formed body. is pressed and'chilled;Fig. 5 is a cross section of Fig. 4' adjacent the larger endthereof. as indicated by the l ne 55 on Fig. 4'; Fig. 6' is a sectionalelevation of a portion ofthe tubular plug wh ch constitutes 'part f'theapparatus shown in Fig. 4.

In performing the process ofthis invention, I take a'substantiallycylindrical billet,

as shown at A in Fig. 2 and pass it between rolls B and B which are setwith their axes der them tubular is shown and described,-

for instance, in Patent No. 361,95l, granted April 26, 1887 to'Maxlvlannesmann.

In order to give the exterior of the tubuv lar body being formed atapered or conical form, -I provide subsequent pairs of rolls.

C, C which have skewed axes, but stand nearer each other than the rollsB. number of pairs of these subsequent rolls T he a which is tobe givento the'body. This I tapering'feature'by subsequent pairs'of rolls isillustrated, for] examplefin Patent No.

6 a. Mannesmann.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Paftutrl B12171. 191 8. i

' Application filed March 8,1917. Seria'lltlo.153,257. r

'anted April 1%,"1887 to Max Having produced a tapered tubular body a ofapproximately the form shown atv A in r Fig. 3, I reheat it ifnecessary, to'bring it to a bright red heat, and place it within a heavytapered mold, des'gnated D; This mold may be of cast iron and consistoftwo longitudinal halves, each having a tapered trough-portion ofsemi-circular contour,

and to a certain extent-closed at the ends and each provided withflanges by which v a the mold parts are secured together by bolts 1 cl.'l/Vhen'the billet is placed inthis mold,

I drive or otherwise force into the bore thereof a tapered hollowplugrlor pip E. i This tapered pipe is of suff cient strength to forcethe metal outwardly and compact 7 it: between the exterior of the'pipeand the wall of the mold, thus producing the con cal bodv shown at A inFi'gil.

The rolling of the billet to produce the original hollow center gives'thefibers a general circumferential direction. This direction of thefibers may be somewhat lost in any by the forcing inof thecentralvtapered i plug-which flattensithe grains in a directhebody isnecessarily compacted'as the plug'is forced into it. The result is thatI have produced a tubular body of strong com pact material with itsfibers extending" circumferentiallyand thus best adapted to resist thebursting strain to which cannons are subjected.

The mold is preferably heated before'the billet is placed in it. whilethe pipe is driven or forced ircold. The result is that the can- I nonbody is chilled first adjacent to the bore and cools more slowlyfromtheoutside, thus a contracting it around the bore as a core. The chilling.may be'turther increased by supplying water to the interior of the plug;E. To enable such water to flow through j the-plug, I preferably makethe pointed end 7 i I e of the plug removable, as illustrated in Fig. 6,and when desired to use this arti ficial cooling I simply remove thisend and s5 7 V reheatingfbut it is restored and. increased I terior'moldmay be removed by unbolting the bolts cl. The interiorpl-ug'may' beeither pressed out of the cannon body or it is left therein and removedby boring when the body is finally boredto size preceding rifiingthereof. 7 i

The body may be made without, trunnions, the trunnionsbeing provided bya separate band shrunk onto the body, as is at present usual. Fig. 1indicates the cannon after it'hasbeen finished A is the body generallyand a the band carrying the truningca. cooling medi m through the hollowof p the plug, removing the b'od'yfrom-th'e mold of nions a. Thecylindrical andlrified bore is indicated at. (1 the enlarged bore forthe shell at a, and the chamber for the breech block at (1 a I p Havmgthus described my invention, what I claim is: a

a 1.' The process of making cannon, consisting of placing a hot tubularbody in a surrounding mold, forcing a hollow tapered plug intothe boreof the body, cooling the interiorof the body by passing a cooling 3 p pa the body, thereby compacting the body' be I tween the plug and moldwall', and there- 7'5 medium through the hollow bore in the plug, andthereafter removing the plug.

2. The process of maklng cannon, consisting of rolling a billet betweenskewed rolls to make a hollow body, placing suchbody in a mold, forcingaplug into the bore of the body to compact, the materia-lbetween thebody'and mold and removing'the plug from the body and the body from themold. 3. The method of ma king cannomconsisting of rolling a billet tomake a hollow body, placing such body while hot in a mold, forcingintothe body bore of the mold a hollow plug, supplying waterto theinterior of the plug to cool the body, removing the body from the moldand boring a central bore into the body, theplng being removed fi opies'of this patent maybe obtained for p which is subsequently rifled. I I

6. The method ofmakin'g'cannon, consisting of forming a hollow tubularbody, plat}; 710

= the plug being removed.

tapered body, placing such body while hot in a" conical. mold, forcinginto the interior of the body a tapered plug which compressesthe'material of the body between the wall of the plug and the interiorof the mold and causes the grains to flatten longitudinally andcircumferentially, and thereafter bor H 5 ing out the cent'erof thebodycylindrically, the plug being removed. I l 5. The method of 'makingcannomucona sisting of rolling a billet between successive,

skewed rolls to producefa hollow tapered body, placing such'body' in amold having a'substantially conical interior, forcing into '60 the bodywhile in the mold'and hot aghollow taperedpll' g, cooling. the body bypassand the plug 'fromthe' body and boring the '65" side of the plug. tomake a cylindrical bore ing the same while hot in a mold which st rrounds the body and substantially inclofses the ends thereof, forcing atapered plug into after removing the phw 7. The method of mi ing ahollow tapered p'l u'g intoqt'h'e'bo'dytof to a cylindrical bore largerthan the plug,

In testimony whereof, I'her'eunto I signature. V r r Y A. Themethod ofmaking'cannon, com I sistin g ofrolling a billet to make a hollow nAR INi'o five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents; pWashingtomD. C.

ring cannon, consist ing of rolling" a billet to make a hOllb'W tapered"body, placing such body whilefhot; in a mold which closely surrounds itand 81) approximately inclo'ses it' at the ends,;forc'

